Last month, the music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, 54, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking and racketeering. On Thursday afternoon, he will be appearing before a judge for the first time since being taken into custody.
Needless to say, the entire country is waiting with bated breath to find out more about the entire scandal.
Diddy’s First Court Appearance
Since his arrest on September 16, Diddy has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. He is set to be taken to a Manhattan courtroom today to make an appearance before Judge Arun Subramanian.
Diddy’s attorneys want his trial to start in April or May. It is believed that today’s hearing will result in deadlines being set for lawyers on each side to submit arguments that will establish the boundaries for his trial.
Diddy has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him. In his indictment, he’s accused of coercing and abusing women for years. He’s also been accused of silencing victims through blackmail and violent acts that include kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
As far as who else is involved? One defense attorney, who is representing alleged victims in this case, says other A-List celebrities are already settling with victims to get ahead of the storm.
Diddy Calls Out The DHS
Late in the day on Wednesday, Diddy’s lawyers submitted documents blaming the Department of Homeland Security for leaking disturbing video showing the music mogul dragging his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura down a hotel hallway. The security footage was filmed in 2016, but it was leaked earlier this year.
Diddy’s attorneys allege that this video and other leaks “have led to damaging, highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial.”
After Diddy’s arrest last month, a judge rejected a $50 million bail package that included home detention and electronic monitoring. This judge concluded that Diddy would tamper with witnesses and obstruct the continuing investigation if he was freed.
Bail was later denied for a second time after a judge concluded that Diddy would be a threat to the community if he would be freed.
Diddy Hit With Lawsuit
Last week, a class-action suit against Diddy was announced. There are 120 victims involved, some of whom were minors at the time that they claim Diddy abused them. The alleged abuse dates back to 1991, and some incidents allegedly occurred this year.
“When we talk about the ages of the victims when the conduct occurred, it’s shocking,” attorney Tony Buzbee said last week. “The youngest victim at the time of the occurrence was 9 years old. We have an individual who was 14 years old. We have one who was 15. Twenty-five of the 120 individuals who are plaintiffs in these cases were minors at the time of the acts complained of.”
“As Mr. Combs’ legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus,” his attorney Erica Wolff told Fox News. “That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors.”
Diddy has been one of the most famous people in the entertainment world for decades. It remains to be seen how this will all turn out for him.
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